Leopard suspected to have killed child on Alipiri walkway caught

TIRUMALA: The leopard that’s suspected to have killed five-year-old Lakshita on Tirumala walkway was caught by the Forest officials. They laid a trap and set up five cages at different places where its movement was noticed and finally, it was caught in a cage.

Forest officials set up two separate cages at a place where few devotees trekking the Alipiri walkway spotted a leopard on Sunday. They also arranged cameras to the nearby trees to record the movement of the wild animal.

The leopard was caught exactly at the place where the little girl was attacked and dragged into the deep forest by the leopard. However, forest officials did not confirm whether it was the same wild animal that turned into a man-eater, as leopard movements were observed at five different places.

Meanwhile, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) executive officer AV Dharma Reddy reached the spot near Narasimhaswamy temple and was reviewing the situation in the wake of the successful trapping of the leopard. The TTD initiated several precautionary steps to prevent such incidents in the future.

The trapped leopard was shifted to SV Zoological Park in Tirupati. It was found to have been injured and is being treated according to TTD forest officials

Even as one leopard suspected to have mauled a girl to death on the Alipiri walkway was trapped and shifted to the zoo, the forest officials have confirmed the movement of leopards at least five different places including the 7th mile, Namalagavi and Lakshminarasimhaswamy temple on the walkway. The trap cameras set up at these places recorded their movement.

Meanwhile, TTD EO Dharma Reddy also confirmed the presence of at least three more leopards on the Alipiri walkway.